Bubba Watson made an 8-foot birdie putt on the second hole a playoff to outlast Paul Casey and win the Travelers Championship for the second time after Casey overcame a three-stroke deficit with five to play, tying Watson at 16-under 264 in light rain at TPC River Highlands.
But the 37-year-old Englishman, playing the tournament for the first time, lost his chance at the title while playing the par-4 18th for the third time when his third shot from a greenside bunker flew over the green and landed on the cart path.
Watson hit his 160-yard approach just to the right of the hole to set up his winning putt. Watson finished with a 67, and Casey shot 65.
Brian Harman, who had a one-stroke lead after 54 holes, had a 69 to finish a stroke out of the playoff. After 39 straight holes without a bogey, he had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10 to fall two strokes behind Watson.
But the finish assured the 28-year-old from Georgia a spot in the Open Championship at St Andrews, along with Graham DeLaet, who finished two shots back.
Despite getting off to a bad start with a double bogey at the 1st hole and finishing with a bogey, DeLaet produced four birdies to finish with a one-under-par 69. The 33-year-old, who played in the 2013 Presidents Cup, will make his third consecutive appearance at The Open.
“I’m really happy,” said DeLaet. “It’s an awesome Championship and it’s at the home of golf so I can still leave here with a smile on my face. I was standing on the 18th tee knowing that I had the third spot in The Open. When I hit my tee shot in the bunker all I could think was, ‘I really hope this doesn’t cost me my spot’. But it ended up being just enough.”
Bryan (notes from BBC Reuters AP CP )
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